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MPs Expenses And Changes To Disclosure
The full expense disclosure is posted on the website as per below.
A full schedule of expenses claimed by members of Parliament is available on http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/Expenses and by Ministers on http://www.dia.govt.nz/ministers_expenses
Changes to Expense Release
1. The format used for releasing Members’ expense information has lacked integrity for the following reasons:
o The data has confounded genuine expenses with elements of Members’ remuneration package.
o The releases lacked transparency in that international travel has been lumped in with domestic air travel.
o Air travel figures have included, in some cases, elements of accommodation costs overseas.
2. The Members’ Expense Release has not included the payment of legal expenses for Members and there is a need to rectify that.
The following changes are being made to the Members’ Expense Disclosure for the financial year 2010/2011:
• The payment of legal fees will be disclosed on the completion of the litigation involved so as to avoid any possible influence of the information on the litigation process.
• The air travel column in the disclosure will be split into domestic air travel and international travel.
• Genuine expense information only will be released to avoid confounding the information with items already paid for out of Members’ salaries.
Because of the interest in expenditure on Members’ international air travel rebate under clause 3.13 of the Speaker’s Directions, the amount deducted from Members’ salaries will be released each quarter together with the amount actually spent on international travel, as well as the cumulative totals for the financial year.
The following data covers the cumulative deductions and expenditure for the financial year 2009/2010 as well as the first quarter 2010/2011.
Financial Year 2009/2010
Total deduction from Members’ salaries for international air travel rebate
$1,176.812
Expenditure on international air travel rebate (incl. Fringe benefit tax) $ 432.989
1st Quarter 2010/2011
Deduction from Members’ salaries for international air travel rebate $ 294,203
Expenditure on international air travel rebate (incl. Fringe benefit tax) $ 76,589
This new format will provide greater integrity to the information being released and increase the transparency with respect to domestic air travel and international travel expenses.
ENDS
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